With winter break approaching next week for Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD), the days leading into the time off are typically low attendance days. To encourage scholars to get to school each day this week, the district made the entire week "You Can Make It!" days by offering incentives and rewards for those students and schools with high attendance. The grand prize on Tuesday's "You Can Make It" day was a special visit from the Cleveland Browns, as well as a dress down day for the entire district.
Patrick Henry School, a PreK-8 school on the east side of Cleveland, had the highest scholar attendance across the 23 schools in the investment network. As a reward, when the students arrived at the school assembly on Tuesday, the Cleveland Browns were there to surprise and congratulate them on making attending school every day a priority this school year.
As part of the team's weekly First and Ten community visits, Cleveland Browns Linebackers Christian Kirksey and Craig Robertson, first met with a small group of students selected by their teachers for their excellent citizenship, behavior, and attendance throughout the semester. The small group would go on to perform a skit for the entire school at the assembly with the help of Robertson, Kirksey, and Browns Mascot, Chomps, which demonstrated the importance of getting to school every single day. After the skit, players drove home the message on the importance of being at school each and every day to give yourself the best opportunity to succeed.
Christian Kirksey and Craig Robertson visited Patrick Henry School to reward the students for their excellent attendance.
Principal Monique Martin said, "Events such as this help tremendously. Some of our scholars don't believe that everyone cares so for the Cleveland Browns to take their time and for our school district to select us strategically based on improved attendance means the world to our scholars. I think that this is something they will always remember. As we transition to winter break, being out of school for two weeks, many of our scholars will be reflecting on this moment and how they can continue to get to school every day as a result of the fun they experienced here today."
The Cleveland Browns Foundation is the signature partner for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District's "Get to School. You Can Make It!" campaign, which works to solve the problem of students being chronically absent from school. Together, CMSD and the Browns Foundation work to develop the optimal strategy and its implementation to minimize absences and encourage students to be accountable for their personal attendance.
The program is already showing signs of success in fighting chronic absenteeism, with first quarter results showing that 1,700 more students are on track for attendance compared to last year. District data shows that missing 10 or more days in a year reduces scores on state tests and increases the chances that high school students will fail to graduate.
The entire Cleveland Browns organization continues to support the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and the "Get to School. You Can Make It!" campaign. Along with visits like these, the Cleveland Browns Foundation donates tickets to Browns games as well as other Browns incentives, and players and coaches record audio and video messages for students. The attendance campaign aligns with the Browns Foundation's mission of taking a solution-based, holistic approach to ensure Northeast Ohio youth receive the development and education they need as a foundation for independence and success.
In 2015, the Browns are continuing their commitment to #give10 through the team's First and Ten initiative. Launched in June 2014, the Cleveland Browns First and Ten campaign is the team's community program, established to inspire fans to volunteer in and help their communities throughout the world by volunteering for 10 hours each year. Through First and Ten, the Browns are the only NFL club to promote a long-term volunteering program that unifies the team and its entire fan base, with the goal of impacting every individual's city across the globe, as well as the franchise's local community. For more information visit www.ClevelandBrowns.com/community and follow @BrownsGiveBack on social media #give10
